I really hate how ships never retreat. When I have a huge armada bear down on a tiny alien fleet and the little faster fleet decides to duke it out with me, it just takes me out of the game. They should flee.
I know some will say they don`t like chasing down runners ( a childish response to a tactical, strategy wargame), but it`s realistic as it shows that the enemy either does not want to die or use it`s ships fruitlessly in a no-win battle. I would also like to use retreat myself to save my ships sometimes.
Ships could have a 1-step retreat mechanic (they cannot retreat after the 1st retreat), letting a chaser with enough move to catch up to them, possibly. It could also be made OPTIONAL as you guys did with the governing Wheel mechanic.
Please make it so, Devs.